Trabajo social

STORY GUIDE

The Selfish Giant
Original story by: Oscar Wilde Read by: Marc Thompson

morals and themes
Caring and Sharing

general comprehension questions
• • • • Wheredoes the story take place? Who are the characters? Who is your favorite character and why? Which character don’t you like and why? • • • • What are the problems the charactersface? How do they solve these problems? How does the story end? What lesson does this story teach you?

discussion questions
• • • • • • Why didn’t the giant want the kids toplay in his garden? Why weren’t the kids happy outside the garden? Why didn’t spring come to the giant’s garden? What do you think the wall symbolized in this story? How did thegiant learn his lesson? Why do you think the author chose to make the main character a giant instead of a regular person?

extension questions
• • • • What other stories does thisremind you of? How does this story relate to your own life? Write an alternate ending for the story. Write your own version of what happens next. • • •

research activity
Usethe internet or library to research the San Francisco Giants. What sport do they play? Why do they have the name “Giants”? Are there any other sports teams with the same name?notes on this adaptation
Because of time considerations, this version of the story does not include Wilde’s original ending, in which the giant feels sad because the boy he liftedto the tree does not return to the garden with the other kids. Years later, as the giant is dying of old age, the boy comes back to the garden, and tells him “You let me playonce in your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.” Though the giant does not know it, Wilde implies to the reader that the boy is Jesus Christ.